Difficult to Cure

Last updated

Difficult to Cure
Difficult to cure.jpg
Cover design by Hipgnosis
Studio album by
Rainbow
Released9 February 1981 [1]
Studio
Genre Hard rock
Length42:53
Label Polydor
Producer Roger Glover
Rainbow chronology
Down to Earth
(1979)		Difficult to Cure
(1981)		 Jealous Lover
(1981)
Singles from Difficult to Cure
  1. "I Surrender"
    Released: 23 January 1981 (1981-01-23) [2]
  2. "Can't Happen Here"
    Released: 12 June 1981 [3]
  3. "Magic"
    Released: 1981 (Japan)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 6/10 [5]

Difficult to Cure is the fifth studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow, and it was released in 1981. It was the first album to feature Bobby Rondinelli on drums and Joe Lynn Turner on lead vocals after the departures of Cozy Powell and Graham Bonnet respectively, following the release of Down to Earth . The album marked the continuing commercialization of the band's sound, with Ritchie Blackmore once describing at the time his appreciation of the band Foreigner. [6] It became the band's highest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number three.

Contents

Recording

Writing of the album's material was begun with singer Graham Bonnet still in the band, progressing as far as recording an early version of "I Surrender", before Bonnet left the band due to his dissatisfaction over the material, and numerous fallouts with Blackmore. American singer Joe Lynn Turner, formerly of Fandango was recruited and sang over already completed musical tracks. Turner stated that, because of this, he was singing in higher keys than he would do normally (and would do subsequently). [7]

Release

Allegedly, the album's cover (designed by Hipgnosis) had originally been proposed for use on Black Sabbath's 1978 release Never Say Die! . [8] "I Surrender" would be the band's highest charting single in the UK, reaching No. 3. [9]

The original 1981 LP and cassette releases had the title of the fifth track as "Vielleicht das Nachster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)". This was a mistranslation from the German, which was corrected on later releases. However, the "corrected" version still is not perfectly grammatical, as the correct German for "Maybe Next Time" is "Vielleicht beim nächsten Mal".

The laughter at the end of the last track is a sample of Oliver Hardy. On the original LP, the laughter is an endless loop as it plays in the run-out groove, while on CD it loops a few times before fading out.

A remastered CD reissue was released in May 1999, with packaging duplicating the original vinyl release.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Surrender" Russ Ballard 4:01
2."Spotlight Kid" Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover 4:54
3."No Release"Blackmore, Glover, Don Airey 5:33
4."Magic"Brian Moran4:07
5."Vielleicht Das Nächste Mal (Maybe Next Time)" (instrumental)Blackmore, Airey3:17
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Can't Happen Here"Blackmore, Glover4:57
7."Freedom Fighter"Blackmore, Glover, Joe Lynn Turner 4:21
8."Midtown Tunnel Vision"Blackmore, Glover, Turner4:31
9."Difficult to Cure (Beethoven's Ninth)" (instrumental) Ludwig van Beethoven, arr. by Blackmore, Glover, Airey5:57

Personnel

Rainbow
Production

Charts

Chart (1981)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [10] 77
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [11] 14
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [12] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [13] 13
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [14] 12
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [15] 17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [16] 9
UK Albums (OCC) [17] 3
US Billboard 200 [18] 50

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [19] Gold25,000 [19]
Japan (RIAJ) [20] Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [21] Gold100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ "News" (PDF). Record Mirror . 17 January 1981. p. 2. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "News". Record Mirror : 2. 17 January 1981. Retrieved 14 December 2020– via flickr.com.
  3. ↑ "Music Week" (PDF).
  4. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Rainbow Difficult to Cure review". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 279. ISBN   978-1-894959-31-5.
  6. ↑ Makowski, Pete (25 July 1981). "Hotter Than July". Sounds : 14, 15, 48. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Bonutto, Dante (6 May 1982). "The Rainbow Story Pt. 2". Kerrang! (15): 22. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ozzy – The Real Story: The Album Covers (Mojo 2005)". gilmourdesign.co.uk/. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Rainbow Official Charts". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  10. ↑ Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. 1993. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  11. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  12. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
  13. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  14. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
  15. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  16. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  17. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  18. ↑ "Rainbow Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  19. 1 2 "Rainbow" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland . Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "Rainbow presented with a gold disk in Tokyo, Japan for Difficult to Cure (3rd February 1981)". Facebook . 20 December 2020.
  21. ↑ "British album certifications – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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